Valve-lifting device



Jan. 8, 1924. 1,480,155

P. G. DARLING VALVE LIFTING DEVICE Filed April 14. 1922 his day '5'Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

uurran srarss rAreNr oFFicE.

PHILIP G. DARLING, OF BEIDGEPORT,

CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO MANNING,

MAXWELL & MOORE, INC., OF YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VALVE-LIFTING DEVICE.

Application filed April 14, 1922. Serial No. 552,475.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP G. DARLING, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield andState of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements inValve-Lifting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention concerns safety valves and relates more particularly tovalve lifting means whereby the valve proper may be lifted manually fromits seat.

In the joint application of Philip G.

Darling and Carl H. Graesser, Serial No.

491,614, filed August 11, 1921, there is shown and described a novelconstruction for house heater safety valves wherein means is providedfor manually lifting the valve from its seat, such manual lifting of thevalve being desirable from time to time in order to insure againststicking of the valve to its seat by accumulations of rust or mineralsalts. In the device referred to the means employed for lifting thevalve comprises a lever pro jecting through a slot in the valve casingand having an integral tongue engageable with the interior surface ofthe valve casing for preventing withdrawal of the lever from the slot.The present invention is intended as an improvement over the arrangementjust referred to, the controlling lever being simplified by theelimination of the retaining tongue, but without sacrificing thefunction of the latter, while at the same time the additional functionof preventing overthrow of the valve, with excessive compression of itsspring, is secured.

In the accompanying drawings wherein the present improvement isillustrated,-

Fig. l is a vertical cross section, on a line such as a-b of Fig. 2,through a house heater safety valve showing the present invention asapplied thereto, the parts be ng shown in the position which they occupyjust at the instant of lifting the valve from its seat;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation, to smaller scale, showing the casingemployed for enclosing the movable parts of the valve; and

Fig. 4: is a side elevation, also to small scale, showing the valvelifting lever.

Referring to the drawings, a valve housing is shown at 1, this housingbeing pro- Vided with screw threads at 2 for engagement with a boilerfitting or the end of a suitable pipe. The valve housing is providedwith a ring 3, the upper" edge of which constitutes an annular valveseat. Cooperat ng with this valve seat is a valve comprising thedisk 4rand the guide wings 5, thelatter slidably engaging the inner surface ofthe ring 3 and maintaining the valve in proper axial alignment with thebore of the houslng. This valve is furnished with an axially disposedsocket 6, the lowerend of which is shaped to provide a cup-like pocket7. Seated in this socket is a spindle 8, the lower end 9 of which isrounded and rests within the pocketl, the spindle, however, being of adiameter slightly less than that of the socket, thus permitting slightlateral movement of the spindle with respect to the walls of the socket.The spindle is provided with a transverse opening 10 through whichloosely passes a cotter pin 11 secured in aligned openings in a flange12 upstanding from the valve disk 4:. The cotter pin as thus disposedserves to connect the spindle 8 with the valve so that upon lifting ofthe spindle the valve may be raised from its seat,the loose fit of thecotter pin with opening 10, however, permitting lateral movement of thespindle without aifecting the position of the valve. i I

The upper end of the spindle is riveted, as indicated at 13 to a disk14: having upwardly flanged edges, as. shown at 15.

Seated upon the upper surfaceof the disk, and within the flange thereof,is the ,coil

spring 16, the upper end of which bears against theinner hemisphericalsurface 17 of a casing 18 formed from sheet metal, or.

, are secured together by a seal 25.

' The casing 18 is furnished witha narrow vertical slot 26 having alower, substantially horizontal edge 27. Passing through this slot is avalve lifting lever comprising a lifting arm 28 and an actuating arm 29,such arms being disposed substantially at right angles to each other.This lever is preferably formed as a stamping from sheet metal, all ofits parts lying substantially in the same plane. At a point adjacent tothe junction of the arms 28 and 29, a pivoting notch 30 is provided,this notch, when the parts are in operative position, seating over theedge 27 of the slot 26. The edge 27 thus serves as a fulcrum upon whichthe lever may turn.

At a point substantially opposite the notch 30, a second notch 31 isprovided, the latter notch being of such depth that thewidth of thelever between the inner end of such notch and a point such as 32 uponthe opposite edge of the lever is less than the vertical height of theslot 26. To the left of the notches 30, and 31, as viewed in Fig. 4, thelifting arm 28 is of width, between the points and 3 2. greater than thevertical height of the slot 26. The lifting arm 28 is pij'ovided with atoe 35 which may engage the under surface of disk 14 and between su'chtoe 35 and the notch 31 an out standing stop lug 36 is provided. Thislug is adapted to engage the inner surface of casing 18, and therebyprevent excessive movement of the lifting lever. If desired, the end ofthe actuating arm 29 may be provided with an opening 37 for theattachment of a cord or chain.

in assembling the valve mechanism above describedit being assumed thatthe parts are disassembled-the valve is first seated upon the ring 3,the spindle 8 is placed within the socket and the cotter pin 11 insertedfor securing the valve and the spinde together. Thedisk 14: havingpreviously been secured to the spindle, the spring 16 is placed thereon,and the actuating arm 29 of the valve lifting lever is now inserted fromthe inside of the casing 18 through the opening or slot 26 until thenotch 30 is caused to engage over the edge 27, such movement beingfacilitated by the provision of the notch 31 which engages the upperedge of the slot during the final stage of the positioning ofthe leverand .just prior to the entry of edge 27 into notch 30. The arm 29 is nowswung back into substantial engagement with the inclined outer surfaceof the casing, and the casing is then slipped down into position overthe ring 20. The casing is now rotated until the tension of spring 16has been adjusted to the desired degree, whereupon the holes 22 and 23are drilled in the casing and ring and the cord 24: and seal 25areappliechthe sealing of the parts serving to prevent improperadjustmentof the spring tension by unauthorized persons. In thenormalposition of the parts the arm 29 rests against the outer surface of thecase in order to remove the pressure of the toe 35 from the valve disk,as such pressure might be suflicient to cause the valve to simmer whennear the popping point. As shown in Fig. 1, the arm has been swungoutwardly and away from the casing 18 thereby bringing the toe 35 intoengagement with the surface of disk 14: ready for lifting the latter.Upon further outward and downward movement of arm 29 the plate 14 islifted, thus, by means of spindle 8 and cotter pin 11, lifting the valvedisk l. Upon release of the lever arm 29 the spring 16 immediatelyreturns the valve 4: to its seat and at the same time returns thelifting lever to normal position. l/Vith the parts assembled as shown inFig. 1 it is impossible to withdraw the valve lifting lever from thecasing by reason of the width of the arm 28 between the points 33, 3 noris it possible to push it inwardly to a suflicient extent to disengagethe notch 30 from the edge 27' due to the interference of the liftingarm 28 with parts of the valve. The lifting lever as thus provided isexceedingly simple in form and may be constructed cheaply, as by astamping operation, while the arrangement described makes it certainthat the lever will always remain in operative position and cannot beremoved by maliciously inclined persons.

the provision of the hump or lug 36 upon the edge of the lever themovement of the latter is limited so that excessive compression of thespring 16, with possible eakage of the latter, is prevented. Thus it isunnecessary to employ a spring whose coils are closed at the instant ofmaximum con'ipression, which for certain mechanical reasons is verydesirable. Moreover, by securing the'spinde 8 to the valve in the mannerherein shown, the application of the spring pressure at a point belowthe valve seat is assured, and this, together with "the loose connectionemployed, serves to avoid any cramping of the valve upon its seat.

V7 hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1.111 combination with a valve casing having an elongated slot therein,a valve controlling lever comprising a lifting arm and an actuating arm,the lever having .1 pivoting notch adjacent to the junction of saidarms, the widthof the actuating arm adjacent to the notch being slightlyless than the length of the slot, and the width of the lifting armadjacent to the notch being greater than the lengthof the slot.

'2. A valve controlling lever "for safety valves comprising an actuatingarmand a lifting arm, said lever having a pivoting notch in one edgeadjacent to the junction of its two arms, and also having a notch in itsopposite edge opposed to the pivoting notch, and a stop lug projectingfrom the lifting arm at a point adjacent to said last named notch.

3. In combination with a valve casing having a narrow vertical slottherein, a valve controlling lever having a pivoting notch in one sidefor engagement with the edge of the slot, and a stop element projectingfrom the opposite side of the lever and engageable with the inner wallof the casing to prevent overthrow of the lever.

4. In combination in a valve mechanism having a valve, a seat therefor,and a casing for covering said valve and seat, a valve controlling levercomprising a lifting arm and an actuating arm, said lever having apivoting notch adjacent to the junction of said arms, anda sto elementmoving with the lifting arm an engageable with the inner surface of thecasing to prevent overlift of the valve.

5. In combination with a valve casing having a spring pressed valvetherein, a controlling lever for moving the valve in opposition to itsspring, said lever comprising a lifting arm arranged within the easingand having an element engageable with the valve, and an actuating armdisposed outside the casing, said lever having a pivoting notch forengagement with the lower edge of a vertical slot in the casing, and astop lug projecting from the lifting arm and engageable with the innersurface of the casing to prevent over compression of the spring.

6. In combination with a valve casing having a vertical slot of fixedlength therein, a reciprocable valve in said casing, and a controllinglever for manually lifting the valve comprising integral lifting andactuating arms of sheet material lying substantially in the same plane,said lever having a pivoting notch adjacent to the junction of its arms,said notch engaging over the lower edge of the slot in the casing.

7. In combination, a valve mechanism having a valve seat, a valvenormally engaging said seat, a casing for covering the valve and seat,said casing having a slot of fixed length therethrough, and a valvecontrolling lever comprising lifting and actuating arms arrangedsubstantially at right angles to each other and positioned within andwithout the casing, respectively, said lever having a pivoting notchadjacent to the junction of its arms constructed and arranged to seatover the lower edge of the slot in the casing, such edge constituting afulcrum for the lever.

8. In combination with a valve mechanism having a valve and a seattherefor, a casing for enclosing said valve and its seat, said casinghaving a slot of fixed length, and a valve lifting lever of sheetmaterial extending through the slot in the casing.

casing enclosing the valve and seat, and a valve lifting leverofsheetmaterial having one arm disposed within the casin and another armprojecting through a s ot of fixed length in the casing, the first namedarm being of such dimensions as to prevent L withdrawal of the leverthrough the slot after assemblage of the parts.

Signed by me at Bridgeport this 11th day of April, 1922.

PHILIP G. DARLING.

